Trip to San Felipe. 



The Mellacca hill. Tuponfrati. 



CHILI. 



Chilian mode of capturing wild 

 horses. 



41 



pears, and quinces, are also raised. The former 

 are inferior to our own, the latter much superior, 

 and in great plenty. 



Oranges were also abundant, but of indifferent 

 flavour. 



Quillota is well supplied with water from the 

 river Concon or Aconcagua. The water is led 

 through all the streets and gardens of the place. 

 It is used for all household purposes as taken 

 directly from the gutters, which are the recipients 

 of dirt of every description from the town. For 

 drinking, it is allowed to settle in large jars kept 

 for the purpose. 



The intercourse with strangers at Quillota has 

 been much less than at Valparaiso or Santiago, 

 and consequently they are less liberal, and more 

 bigoted. This was particularly shown about four 

 years previous to our visit, by their burning, in 

 the public square, a large number of Bibles in the 

 Spanish language, along with a heap of immoral 

 and indecent pamphlets, in the presence of the 

 civil, military, and ecclesiastical authorities. These 

 Bibles had been distributed by our countryman, 

 Mr. Wheelwright, who has done so much by his 

 enterprise in introducing the communication by 

 steam along the western coast of South America. 



On leaving Quillota, they went through the 

 " Calle Largo," and took the southern side of the 

 valley, passing along the foot of the Mellacca Hill, 

 a smooth and rounded elevation, about three hun- 

 dred feet in height, and a mile and a half in cir- 

 cumference. This hill is covered with a thin soil, 

 formed from the decomposition of its own rocks. 

 The valley now narrows, and in some places is not 

 more than a few hundred feet in width. At about 

 a league from Quillota, they ascended a cuesta of 

 the Quillota ridge, one thousand feet above the 

 plain. On its top they were much gratified with 

 the beautiful prospect. The fruitful plain or vega 

 of Aconcagua, varying in width from one to six 

 miles, extends, to the west, some twenty miles to 

 the ocean, and is lost in the other direction in the 

 mountains ; it is watered by pure streams, and 

 covered with farm-houses and hamlets, surrounded 

 by trees and vineyards. To the north-east are the 

 Andes, heaped as it were on each other, until the 

 towering and distant peak of Tupongati, with its 

 giant form, crowns the whole. One feature of the 

 plain was peculiar : the mountains seemed to sink 

 into it as if it were the ocean itself. In some 

 cases the line was so well defined, that one foot 

 could be placed on the plain, and the other on the 

 base of a mountain rising six or seven thousand 

 feet high. The distance of Tupongati is about 

 forty leagues. 



Captains King and Fitzroy have made the height 

 of this peak several hundred feet above Chimbo- 

 razo. The surrounding mountains, though from 

 ten to twelve thousand feet high, and much nearer, 

 sink into insignificance when compared with it. 

 Indeed, all the objects are upon such a grand 

 scale, that they fail to excite the notice that they 

 would attract if situated elsewhere. 



The road over the cuesta was narrow, steep, 

 and broken. It descended into a plain, which was 

 found well cultivated, and watered by a branch of 

 the Aconcagua. 



The ridges on the northern side of the valley 

 now became more lofty and precipitous, exhibiting 

 the columnar structure more distinctly. The trap 



dikes were in some places four feet wide ; and in 

 one place, where the rock had been cut to form 

 the road, fourteen dikes were counted within three 

 hundred feet. On their way up the valley the 

 peon's horse knocked up, and they were obliged to 

 step and hire another at the house of a farmer, 

 called Evangelisto Celidono. 



On the second cuesta they were gratified by wit- 

 nessing the mode in which the Chilians capture 

 the wild horses. A party of four or five horsemen, 

 with about twenty dogs, were seen formed in an 

 extended crescent, driving the wild horses towards 

 the river with shouts. All were armed with the 

 lasso, which was swinging over their heads, to be 

 in readiness to entrap the first that attempted to 

 break through the gradually contracting segment; 

 the dogs serving with the riders to head the horses 

 in. They continued to advance, when suddenly a 

 horse with furious speed broke the line, passing 

 near one of the horsemen, and for a moment it 

 was thought he had escaped ; the next he was 

 jerked round with a force that seemed sufficient 

 to have broken his neck, the horseman having the 

 moment the lasso was thrown turned round and 

 braced himself for the shock. The captured horse 

 now began to rear and plunge furiously to effect 

 his escape. After becoming somewhat worn out, 

 he was suffered to run, and again suddenly checked. 

 This was repeated several times, when another 

 plan was adopted. The dogs were set on him, and 

 off he went at full run, in the direction of another 

 horseman, who threw his lasso to entangle his legs 

 and precipitate him to the ground. The dogs again 

 roused him, when he again started, and was in like 

 manner brought to a stand ; after several trials he 

 became completely exhausted and subdued, when 

 he stood perfectly still, and allowed his captors to 

 lay hands upon him. The shouts of the men, the 

 barking of the dogs, and the scampering of the 

 horses, made the whole scene extremely exciting. 



After a toilsome route of three and a half 

 hours, they found themselves surrounded by many 

 branches of the river, whose banks were but a few 

 inches above the water. The peon then acknow- 

 ledged himself bewildered, and that he had missed 

 his way. Crossing the streams was attended with 

 some danger; for owing to their rapidity and depth 

 they were near sweeping the horses off their legs. 

 Returning a league or two, they fortunately met 

 a muleteer, who put them in the road; but their 

 horses were now so exhausted, that they were 

 compelled to seek lodgings at a rancho. After 

 applying at several, they succeeded in getting a 

 place to lie in, after making many promises of 

 liberal payment. A similar course, notwithstanding 

 a positive refusal or denial of having any pro- 

 visions, procured them a casuela, served in a large 

 wooden bowl, with wooden spoons. This is a sort 

 of Chilian chowder, with a plentiful supply of 

 garlic, onions, Chili pepper, &c., and one of the 

 favourite dishes of the country. In three days' ride 

 they had passed overabout sixty miles; the highest 

 temperature experienced was 65'5, the lowest 

 35'7. At the rancho, where they stopped for the 

 night, the temperature fell 20'5 in three hours. 



They passed the night with the usual annoyance 

 in most houses in Chili, for fleas were found in 

 gi'eat abundance. In the morning the tempera- 

 ture was 35'5, and the ground covered with hoar 

 frost. This rancho was supposed to be about one 



